Darker than Your Wonderland
by Kali Ravel
Summary: I am not my father.  Rose/Scorpius.
1. In Common

Looking back, it probably began the day she was sorted into Ravenclaw instead of Gryffindor.

On the surface, she'd been thinking Gryffindor, like her father had wanted, but deep down, she'd known Ravenclaw would suit her better. Rose had read everything she could about Hogwarts, ever since her mother had taught her how to read, and despite all the family stories, she'd known she was better suited to the bird than the lion. It had helped that, a few minutes before, she'd watched Al being sorted into Slytherin, and Scorpius Malfoy being sorted into Ravenclaw. She knew she wouldn't be alone in disappointing her parents.

In the common room, after the feast, she'd sat down at one of the desks to start composing a letter. He'd sat down next to her then, looking stern at first, and then returning her shy smile.

Come to think of it, maybe it had started even earlier, on the train.


	2. Understanding

Rose had lost Al, somehow, in getting on the train. He was probably with James, she guessed.

Rose pictured herself walking through the train, looking for Al and James in every carriage. She really wasn't in the mood to be that social, she decided. Instead, she sat down in the empty carriage, and pulled a book out of her pocket.

The door opened, and the boy she'd noticed earlier poked his head round. Scorpius, she remembered, the one her father had warned her against. Rose examined his face; the blond hair, and the cheekbones which already looked finely sculpted, even at eleven. His expression seemed haughty, but when his eyes met hers, he flushed pink. He looked like he might say something, but, instead, made his way to the seat opposite without looking at her.

Rose felt embarrassed, too. She never quite knew what to say to strangers.

He took a book from his pocket too, a battered paperback. Rose went back to hers, but couldn't help but try to read the cover of his. _Jack Williamson_, she made out, but she couldn't see the title.

The carriage remained quiet for the rest of the journey. After the first hour, Rose had looked up, and met Scorpius' eyes. She'd smiled, shyly, feeling awkward again.

"What are you reading?" He asked. Silently, she held up her book, so he could read the cover. He did the same.

_Alice in Wonderland. Darker than You Think._

Rose felt her pale skin flush again, and felt an irrational hatred towards her father's genes. Stupid pale skin. She felt embarrassed over her choice; it seemed so babyish.

"May I see?" he asked, reaching for her book. She nodded, and asked for his.

She'd never heard of the book before. It was a muggle book, as far as she could tell, and although Rose had often been exposed to her grandparent's library, it was one she'd never come across.

"This is a muggle book?" Scorpio asked. She looked up.

"Yes," she said. "It's a classic. Everyone's heard of it."

He looked down. Rose regretted her comment, as she realised he might have taken it as a criticism.

"Everyone in the muggle world," she added, hurriedly. "I wouldn't expect a wizard to have heard of it."

He looked up then, his blue eyes vulnerable. She'd understood him, then, in that moment. Like her, he hated to feel stupid, about anything.

"I've never heard of this," she continued, holding his book up, offering her own ignorance as a gift. "Is it a muggle book, or a wizard book?"

"It's a muggle book," he confirmed. She'd suspected as much; it was science-fiction, as far as she could tell, and wizards went in for that even less than muggles did. "I found it in our attic."

Rose wondered why his family had had muggle books in their attic, until she opened the book, and saw the name written inside the front cover. _Severus Snape. _

Rose knew of the history of her family, and of the Malfoys, and of Severus Snape. She'd guess that Scorpius' father had inherited, or otherwise taken possession of, Snape's belongings. She wondered why Draco Malfoy had never disposed of them, but she knew her history well enough to realise she should avoid the subject. She handed the book back.

"Do you like it?"

His face lit up. He'd explained to her then, about the world in the book, the way magic worked there, how fascinating he found it. She'd made him promise to lend it to her when he'd finished rereading it for, what he told her was, the seventh time. After that, he'd asked her about _Alice_, and she'd told him.

They both loved stories of magic, it turned out, any kind, as long as it was different from what they'd grown up with. She'd told him about _Three Hearts and Three Lions_ then, knowing he'd understand the appeal, something her family never had. Her mother shared her love of reading, of course, but what her mother loved was books about real magic. She'd never understood why Rose liked fantasy and science fiction. Her grandparents hadn't either, but they'd been happy to take her to muggle bookshops whenever she'd visited.

She'd realised that, what Scorpius loved about _Darker_ was the same thing she loved about _Three_, and other books. Magic, in those books, worked scientifically, had an explanation she could understand logically, even if they were merely pseudo-science. Even if she knew that that wasn't how magic worked.


	3. Letters

In the common room, Rose was cursing her Weasley genes again. When Scorpius had sat down next to her, the whispers had started. Although she didn't know any of the other Ravenclaws, they all knew the history. And she was undeniably a Weasley – red hair, freckles – and he was undeniably a Malfoy.

Scorpius had kept his eyes focused on the parchment in front of him. He hadn't gone red, but Rose knew his refusal to look up was a sign of his own embarrassment.

The Ravenclaw common room was heaven. Three of the four walls were covered with bookcases, with comfortable sofas and desks taking up space in the middle of the room. Rose reached behind her, and took some books from the nearest shelf, stacking them in front of her and Scorpius. He'd looked up then, and smiled at her properly.

"Good idea," he said, quietly. She smiled back, and gestured to her own sheet of parchment.

"I don't know how I'm going to tell them," she confessed.

"Your parents? Me either. The Malfoys have been Slytherins for generations -"

" – and the Weasley's have been in Gryffindor for even longer!"

They'd known they were friends then, in that moment.

"That's what father says," Scorpius continued. "But I've looked at the family tree. Father's cousin, Nymphadora Tonks, was a Hufflepuff. And grandmother's cousin, Sirius Black, was a Gryffindor! It's about time we had a Ravenclaw in the family!"

Rose knew he was rehearsing. It wasn't her he was trying to convince, or himself. It was his father.

He'd know as well as she did that those arguments wouldn't work on the Draco Malfoy she'd heard about. They were both Ravenclaws, after all. So, obviously, either she didn't know Draco as well as she thought she did, or Scorpius was unduly optimistic. She'd guess the former; she'd only heard stories, after all, from his enemies, and Scorpius had grown up with the man. Rose filed that thought away for future reference, and looked down at her own parchment. Chewing her lip, she decided to go for the fast and brutal option.

_Dear daddy,_

_I'm in Ravenclaw! I guess you were right about me inheriting mother's brains!_

_Love,_

_Rose_

_PS – did you hear that Al's in Slytherin?_

There. She'd appealed to her father's affections, complimented her mother, and, if none of that worked, dropped Al in it too. Damage limited.


	4. Reactions

It was only two days later that Rose received a reply. She hadn't shared it with Scorpius, and he hadn't shared his with her. Later that day, they'd wandered outside, each clutching books. Along with the reply from her father, Rose had received a package from her mother, of books she'd requested. She'd left them at home, but quickly regretted it, especially now that she had Scorpius to share them with.

It was a crisp autumn day, and it didn't take them long to find somewhere to sit and read, away from prying eyes. They'd leaned against a tree, and quickly lost themselves, and each other.

After a while, Scorpius had put his book down, and looked up at the sky.

"Father loves me." He said, apropos of nothing. Rose stayed silent, but lowered her book, too.

Scorpius scratched at the back of his neck. "He asked if it was something he'd done. If he'd turned me away from ambition. He said that, although ambition can be a bad thing, like it sometimes was for him, it didn't have to be. He said he hoped this didn't mean I was turning away from my future."

Rose didn't know what to say.

"He's so disappointed." Scorpius said, quietly. "I don't know how to tell him that he shouldn't be."

"My parents don't understand either," Rose confessed. "My mother was intelligent too, but she was put into Gryffindor. They're glad that I inherited that, but, I think – I think they wonder what I'm missing. Why I'm not brave."


	5. Comrades

Gradually, their parents had come to accept that their children's paths differed from their own, and Scorpius and Rose began to feel a lot better about the letters they were receiving.

Neither of them thought that their parents knew of their friendship. Scorpius didn't have any other close relatives at the school to tell his father, after all, and Rose knew that her cousins hadn't mentioned it. She herself talked about a new friend, her best friend, if she were honest, but she hadn't mentioned any names.

Rose hated saying goodbye at Christmas. She loved her family, but there was nowhere she could just sit and read quietly at home, no one with whom she could talk about books like she did with him.

His face had seemed stern and haughty once more, but she'd come to realise that that was his natural expression, part inherited, part cultivated to get people to leave him alone. He'd given her a list of books he'd like to borrow, "if it's not too much trouble,", and she'd promised to see how many she could fit into her trunk.

When she came back after Christmas, she headed to their usual table in the common room, pleased to see him already there.

"Good Christmas, Scorpius?" she asked. He'd nodded, flashing a quick smile.

As they'd both settled in more, they'd moved away from their initial, shy, manners. Scorpius had cultivated his cool expression, and, in class, preferred not to volunteer to answer questions, instead seeming not to pay attention, but then getting almost perfect marks every time. In contrast, Rose was eager to answer questions first.

They tended to work together, and this had ceased to draw comment from their classmates very rapidly. In many ways, they made up for one another's weaknesses. Rose was good at Transfiguration, while Scorpius showed an early talent for Charms.


	6. Papa Wolf

Rose missed Scorpius, during the summer. Eventually, they'd agreed to meet in Hogsmeade, one day in July.

Rose's dad had almost choked on his butterbeer when Rose had waved at Scorpius. Draco Malfoy had not reacted so strongly, merely raising his eyebrows until they almost disappeared into his hair.

"So," he'd said, as they drew close to the table. "This is your new friend, Scorpius."

Rose darted out from behind the table, eager to make a good impression. "Pleased to meet you, Mr Malfoy."

She held out her hand, and, after a glance at her father, Draco shook it. Scorpius glanced between them. At the start of the year, he and Rose had been of much the same height, but now she was an inch or two taller than he was.

"I didn't lie, father," Scorpius said, so quietly that Rose thought that he probably didn't realise she could hear him. "She does come from a pureblood family."

Draco glanced at his son, but didn't reply. Rose's father had finished coughing, and, as Draco let Rose's hand fall, said, "Malfoy."

"Weasley."

"I wasn't aware that your son was my Rose's new friend." Ron finished, with a glance at his daughter.

"Quite." Draco nodded, and then turned to his son. "Scorpius Erethizon Malfoy, I will see you back here in two hours."

"Father -"

Draco held up a hand. "Not a moment longer. Do I make myself clear?"

Scorpius stopped. "Yes, father."

Rose, Ron, and Scorpius watched as Malfoy stalked out of the pub, his coat swirling behind him.

Rose had seen many similarities to Scorpius, in Draco. The hair, eyes, and general features, for a start. And the cold, brusqueness...that was something she knew Scorpius adopted amongst people he didn't know well, as a defence mechanism. She wondered what Draco's reason was.

"Flash git," said Ron, and Rose watched as Scorpius' face closed up. He turned to her father.

"I'm honoured to meet you, Mr Weasley," he said, smoothly, his face utterly blank. Rose wished her father had been friendlier.

Ron and Scorpius shook hands, and then Ron turned to Rose.

"I guess I'll see you here in two hours, too," he said. "Don't wander too far."

Rose nodded, and she and Scorpius left. Rose felt the coins in her pocket, and wondered if she had enough for ice creams.


	7. Promises

"I apologise for my father." Said Scorpius, as soon as they were outside. Rose gaped.

"Your father? I'm sorry about my father. He's not normally -"

"He's just very formal, he didn't mean - "

They stopped, and smiled at each other. Rose was relieved to see Scorpius' face thaw.

"Let's go get ice creams." She said, feeling more cheerful.

"Rose?" asked Scorpius, as they walked.

"Yes?"

"Could we – could we go to muggle London, one day?"

Rose looked at her friend's face. Unusually, for him, there was a slight flush along his cheekbones. She realised that, as far as he was concerned, he was asking a lot from her.

Rose wondered what his father would think of his desire to explore a muggle city. As far as she knew, he'd been allowed to keep the books, but she also knew that he'd never been able to buy his own. Maybe it was something his own father simply didn't know how to do, a world he didn't have access to. It had probably never occurred to Draco that Scorpius would want more books. Rose knew it had cost Scorpius a lot to admit, even as subtly as he had, that this was something his father couldn't give him.

Wizarding fiction was nowhere near as broad as muggle fiction, Rose knew, and the books that did exist didn't often cover fantasy or science fiction. There were myths and legends, and there were books about wizards losing their powers for whatever reason, but there were very few about worlds where magic worked differently, or where technology was fantastic and advanced. It was simply not a subject that many wizards wrote about.

"Of course we can." She replied, vowing to make it happen somehow. Her muggle grandparents would be fine with her bringing a friend to stay with them, she thought, although they might raise eyebrows about it being a _male_ friend. The main problem would be persuading her parents, but she was sure they'd come around.

Scorpius and Rose got so caught up in debating the works of Philip K. Dick that they were almost ten minutes late getting back to the Hogs Head. Draco Malfoy was waiting outside, and, as he drew into sight, Scorpius stopped running. He flattened his hair, and smoothed out his clothing.

"Father." He said, in greeting. Draco nodded, and stepped forward, placing an arm around his son, guiding him away.

"Good day, Miss Weasley." He said, as they passed.

Rose hurried into the Hogs Head, to find her dad sitting at the same table they'd left him at, with rather more empty glasses in front of him than before.

"Rose Perdita Weasley," her father said. "I think we need to have a talk with your mother."

Rose gulped.


	8. Flash Git

"Hermione!" Ron called, as soon as they got into the house. Her mother looked up. "You'll never guess who Rose's new friend is!"

Hermione looked at Hugo. "Hugo, you want to go play with Lily?"

Hugo looked torn between seeing his favourite cousin and missing whatever was about to happen. His mother came him a firm look, and he made up his mind.

Ron handed him some floo powder, and Hugo stepped over to the fireplace. "Remember not to go too far, son," Ron cautioned. Hugo nodded and was gone.

"What's this about Rose's new friend?" asked Hermione.

"Go on Rose, tell your mother who your new friend is."

"I already told you, mom. He's a really smart boy, who likes muggle books. He's in Ravenclaw with me, and he's really good at charms, but I'm better at transfiguration."

"Tell her his name, Rose."

"Is that more important?"

"Rose!" Ron shook his head. "It's Scorpius Malfoy, 'mione! That flash, albino, git's son!"

Hermione looked between her daughter and her husband.

"Rose," she said, finally. "Take some floo powder, and go and see Uncle Harry and Aunt Ginny. I need to talk to your father."


	9. Pioneer Plaque

Her father didn't mention Scorpius again, but there was no more talk of them meeting up over the summer. They exchanged owls frequently, and they were both glad to see one each other again when they got back to Hogwarts.

They didn't talk about what they'd been up to over the summer. Instead, they talked about the books they'd read. Rose explained some of the things that weren't immediately apparent to someone of a purely wizarding background. Scorpius was amazed to find out that man actually had walked on the moon. More than amazed.

He'd read books about space travel, of course, but he'd always assumed that that part was entirely fictitious. He hadn't realised that the reason for the explosion of space-based sci-fi in the 50s and 60s was due to man walking on the moon.

Rose felt quite amazed herself, as she described what she could remember of the space program. But, you couldn't keep up that level of amazement for long, and they soon found themselves talking about the upcoming year instead.


	10. Seposita Stilus

It was that January that Scorpius suggested the Seposita Stilus charm. Rose hadn't known what it was, until he'd explained.

The charm would be cast on two pieces of paper, allowing each to see what the other said. He could write a message on one, and it would show up on the other. She could turn it over, write back, and that reply would show up on his copy. They'd be able to wipe the previous messages off before writing new ones.

Once he'd described it, Rose realised that she had heard of the charm before. It was something her older cousins had mentioned using to pass notes in class, and something her uncle George had experimented with, to sell in the shop. The way he'd talked of using it made her think of text messages, something she'd only recently learned about when her muggle grandmother had let Rose play with her mobile phone.

They'd tried it at once, writing messages to one another all through potions. It was almost pointless, since they were sitting right next to one another, and they nearly got detention when the professor realised how little attention they were paying, but it was fun, and quite addictive.


	11. The Last Golden Summer

They used the Seposita Stilus a lot during that summer between their second and third years. They were both thirteen now, and their parents had decided that they were old enough to go out alone, so long as they knew where they were heading. Rose's parents never asked her whom she was intending to meet, and she assumed that Scorpius' didn't, either. They took it as a free invitation to see one another.

It was a golden summer. That was the year where every day was sunny, and lasted forever. The year she started calling him 'Skip'. The year they confided in each other that they'd never been kissed.

Rose thought it was probably herself who'd first suggested that they try kissing each other. Just once, for practice. They'd been out near the woods this time, and the sun was halfway to setting. The light had bronzed his hair and burnished hers.

She could still remember how it had felt, when she'd placed her hand on his cheek, and slowly drew him to her. They'd kissed, clumsily. His lips were soft, and her pulse thudded in her throat, until she wasn't sure if she was breathing any more.

They'd drawn away from one another, smiling shyly, then laughing.

"We're too young," Scorpius had said, and she'd agreed.

They were too young.

It was the last golden summer.


	12. Aphelocoma

Rose's third year was the year that her younger brother, Hugo, started at Hogwarts. It was also the first year that she met Aphelocoma Malfoy, Scorpius' sister.

The girl wasn't starting at Hogwarts that year; she'd just come to see her brother off. She watched Rose, from beneath her father's arms, with heavy-lidded, ice-blue eyes. Her expression held a disdain that Rose had never seen on Scorpius' face.

Seeing this, Rose's father had said, quietly, "are you still friends with that Malfoy boy?"

"I am," Rose had replied.

Her father looked between Rose and Aphelocoma, then nodded at Draco. _Sotto voce_, he asked "does he treat you right? Is he nice to you?"

"_Yes_, dad!"

With one last glance at the Malfoy's, Rose's father had lead her away, to stand with her brother and cousins until the train was ready to leave.

"Be careful, Rose," he'd said to her. "This boy isn't his father, I know. But I never knew a Malfoy who didn't have ulterior motives, who didn't have other plans hidden inside their plans."

Seeing her face, he'd added, "I'm sure he's a lovely boy, Rose. I just don't want you to get hurt."

"I won't," she'd lied, though she hadn't known that at the time.

Rose and Scorpius were unable to find an empty carriage this year. However, the one they did find was occupied by only two other people, fifth years who spent the entire time focused on one another, so Rose and Scorpius were able to talk privately.

"Your sister seemed nice," Rose offered.

Scorpius grinned widely, a new expression for him. "That's new. She never seems nice to strangers."

Rose smiled back. She was three or four inches taller than Scorpius now, and beginning to look more like a young woman than a little girl. He still looked like a boy.

"What was your father whispering?" Scorpius asked.

"Oh," Rose began. "He asked if we were still friends. He wanted to know if you were nice to me."

"What did you tell him?"

"That you were."

"Why did he feel the need to ask?" Scorpius asked, frowning.

Rose decided to be honest. "I think it's because of the problems he had with your father at school," she said. "He thinks your father may not approve."

Scorpius didn't reply. Instead, he remained gazing at her, and, for some reason, his expression reminded her of the one she'd seen on his sister's face. She squirmed uncomfortably, and tried to go back to her book.

"Does your father not approve?" Scorpius asked, interrupting. His face was closed now, not open and vulnerable as it would have been if he'd asked the question a year, or even a few months, before.

Rose's ears went red, as she tried to think of how best to phrase it.

"I think he mostly tries not to think about it," she eventually said. Scorpius nodded, then picked up _his_ book, and started reading. The conversation was over.

Rose noted that he hadn't denied her father's accusation.


	13. More to Lose

Later that week, in a letter, Rose poured her heart out to her mother. She was still young enough to do that, although, not for long.

_Your father worries too much, Rose. _Hermione had written. She'd ended with a warning, not for Rose, but for Scorpius. _Remember that he has more to lose over this friendship than you do. I can't imagine his father being pleased over your relationship, though he may have learned to live with things that displease him, by now._

Reading that reminded Rose of a conversation she'd overheard over the summer.

"I doubt he was best pleased that his boy ended up in Ravenclaw," her mother had said. Her father had agreed.

Alone in the dormitory, Rose wondered if her friendship was hurting Scorpius. She knew that, even if it was, he would never tell her, or anyone else.


	14. Rejection

Most of Rose's cousins were attending Hogwarts now, and she found herself distracted by them, most days. It took her over a month to notice that Scorpius had returned one of her books without asking to borrow another. She wondered if he was avoiding her, and admitted to herself that the idea wouldn't surprise her.

She thought about their kiss a lot. It hadn't meant so much to her at the time, but now that they weren't speaking nearly as much as they used to, it grew in significance, along with the idea that she had been rejected.


	15. They Don't Have to Know

Before Rose knew it, it was Christmas. It had been weeks since she and Scorpius had spoken, the longest they'd gone since that first summer holiday. They were both fourteen now, her birthday passing in the September, and his in the November.

She'd decided not to go home for Christmas, a decision that had not surprised her family, not as much as she'd expected. She may have spent more time with her cousins recently, but they'd never quite understood her as a Ravenclaw. She'd kept herself to herself since the sorting, and, to be honest, long before then.

She'd told them that she had a lot of studying to do, what with the new classes she'd taken up. They didn't question her decision, especially when they remembered how hectic her mother's schedule had been during her third year.

Scorpius stayed too, exactly as she'd heard that he would. A few days before Christmas, she sought him out in the library.

"Skip?" She asked, peering over a pile of books.

He looked up from his parchment, rubbing his forehead.

"Haven't seen you in a while, Rose." He replied, his face guarded.

Rose chewed her lower lip. He'd never been like this with her, not before this year. She wondered whether or not his father had told him to be distant. Still, she decided to plough on with the course she'd chosen.

"I brought you a present." she said, holding the package out.

He smiled then, a real smile, one that seemed almost grateful. She wondered then whether his family had sent him presents, or whether they'd disowned him, for being a Ravenclaw who'd befriended a Weasley. From what she'd heard, she wouldn't have put it past them, and, not for the first time, she felt a flicker of hatred towards his father.

Scorpius reached into his bag and drew out a similar package. "I got you a present, too."

She returned his smile. "We don't have to wait till Christmas, do we?"

He'd grinned properly then, that new expression he'd only begun using since he'd hit his teenage years. It accentuated his eyes and sharp cheekbones, making him look devilishly handsome. "Not if you don't want to." He assured her.

On mutual agreement, they ripped open the wrapping paper right there and then. They'd bought each other books, of course.

She'd given him a new paperback, _The Child Garden_. She thought he'd find the future shown there interesting. She'd loved the story, when she'd read it; it was about love, and loss. It was about misunderstandings, someone working hard to unwittingly destroy something they didn't know they had. It was about doing exactly the wrong thing for all the right reasons.

She'd cried after reading it, and she'd wanted to share those feelings with him.

He'd given her a second-hand book, one of Severus'. It had been well-read, and she realised that he was giving her something he couldn't easily replace. She hugged him then, spontaneously.

Scorpius blushed furiously; the first time she'd seen him do more than flush slightly.

"I thought you were avoiding me," he confessed, when she let go.

"I wasn't sure if you'd want to be around me," Rose said, awkwardly.

"Why not?" he asked, sounding hurt. "Did I do something?"

"Oh, no! Oh, Skip, it's not you!"

"Then what, Rosie?"

"It's...our families, Skip." She said eventually, meaning, of course, his family.

She watched clouds drift through his eyes, before they shut down again.

"I see," he said.

She wasn't going to let him go this time. Instead, she leaned over and hugged him again, grasping him tightly.

"They don't have to know," she said.

"Rose -"

"Shh, Skip. I missed you. I'm not going to lose you. _They don't have to know_."

She waited, clinging, eyes closed. He stroked her hair.


	16. Teenage Angst

Things were almost the same between them after that. She didn't hug him any more – Scorpius didn't do physical affection, she knew, though he had appreciated it that time – but they'd study and read together.

Scorpius had changed since they'd met, Rose realised. He'd been a shy, quiet boy, who'd kept himself to himself. He was still shorter than her, still had a boyish face, but the girls she knew were already becoming envious of their closeness. His shyness and quietness was tempered with a charm that transfigured them into cool and aloof, now he was fourteen.

They didn't share as much as they once had. Now they were both thoroughly entrenched in puberty, they had secrets from one another. Rose developed a crush on another boy in their year, a Gryffindor, Mike Finnegan. He didn't have the glass handsomeness of Scorpius, but he was cute, and had a cheeky sort of charm that made her laugh. She enjoyed watching him, and daydreaming about him, from a distance. She never got up the courage to approach him.

Likewise, she never got up the courage to talk to Scorpius about their kiss, or about the hug. He metered out physical affection so carefully that she thought they _must_ be important. At times, she was convinced that he was in love with her, and was only waiting for the right moment. She stacked up the evidence in her mind, and knew there could be no doubt.

At other times, she stacked the evidence again, and found quite a different total. She knew they were just friends; he'd rejected her kiss, hadn't he? He'd never touched her of his own volition, had he?

Sometimes, she thought about kissing him again, seeing what would happen. She thought he might go along with it, not because he fancied her, but simply because he trusted her. She didn't want to do that to him. She loved being friends with him, and although she daydreamed about lying in his arms to read, or kissing him again, she wasn't quite ready for any of it to really happen. The whole issue was so confusing, so contradictory, that she didn't want to share it with anyone, especially not him. She wanted to get it sorted in her head, get it all straight, then act on it, not spread her confusion to him.

It never occurred to her that he would be confused too, that he would suffer such conflicting feelings. Everyone else seemed to have things together; they seemed to know what they wanted, to know what they were doing, and why. It wasn't until she was much, much older that she realised that everyone was just as confused as she was, at fourteen. Everyone was bluffing.


	17. If You Ever

They shared a carriage again, on the way back to King's Cross, at the end of their third year. Rose was re-reading the book he'd given her at Christmas; _Beauty_, it was called. She liked the idea that beauty bred true; that things would turn out okay in the end.

As the train drew into the station, she saw Draco Malfoy waiting on the platform. She drew back, so she couldn't be seen from the windows, and told Scorpius to go on ahead, that she'd write him something on the Seposita Stilus parchment later.

Rose left the train a few minutes after Scorpius did, which gave him and his father time to find one another. She smiled at him, briefly, as she passed, and saw Draco appraising her with a cool stare. Her cheeks flushed, but she held her head high, as her parent's stories, overheard since she was a child, came flooding back.

_He can think what he likes,_ she thought, furiously. _Skip and I will always be friends. And if he ever calls me a mudblood to my face, I'll –_


	18. Slytherin

That year, their fourth, was the year that Aphelocoma Malfoy started at Hogwarts.

Rose and Scorpius had sent messages to each other all through the summer, but had been able to see each other very few times. For much of the summer, Scorpius had accompanied his sister, in buying her school equipment.

He'd asked for the privilege, he told her, wanting the responsibility of caring for his sibling. Rose didn't quite understand why it meant so much to him, but she was pleased for him.

Scorpius and Alephocoma walked onto the train together. Rose was already in their usual carriage, curled up with a book. Scorpius nodded to her as he passed, his hands on his little sister's shoulders. She smiled at him, but stopped, quickly, when she saw Alephocoma's expression. The younger girl looked disdainful, confused as to why Rose was smiling at her brother.

Rose watched them walked past, further into the train. That was the first year in which she and Scorpius hadn't sat together.

Aphelocoma was sorted into Slytherin, and Rose wasn't at all surprised.


	19. Enigma

Rose and Scorpius' friendship wasn't the same, after that. She couldn't forget how Aphelocoma had looked at her, like she wondered why Rose was talking to her brother.

They still spent some time together, but not like they used to. They'd study together, in the Ravenclaw common room, but they no longer sat together, and read books with each other.

Rose missed him, deeply. She missed sitting with him for hours, neither of them needing to say anything at all. She missed talking about books with him. She missed watching his face, unguarded as he read, especially now that she only saw it guarded, in front of others.

He was so good at keeping his face guarded. His natural expression was the one that made him seem haughty, and that served to keep people away, as he preferred. He rarely showed true happiness or pride, not in any obvious ways.

Rose heard people mutter about his family sometimes, particularly Gryffindors, who were still deeply suspicious of the Malfoys. He never showed that he'd heard that, either.

Scorpius Malfoy was an enigma. Rose wished they could go back to the days when she'd been the person he didn't guard against, but she didn't know how to approach him.

She didn't try.


	20. She's Clearly

It was in February that she overheard Aphelocoma talking with her friends. Rose was waiting for Al, sitting in an alcove by the Slytherin common room, when Aphelocoma walked out, surrounded by her friends.

"The Weasley girl?" She said, in response to a friend's question. "I guess that's all over. Merlin knows why they were ever friends in the first place. She's clearly-"

Aphelocoma's voice faded, as she drew further away from Rose. Hidden in her alcove, Rose was red with fury. She was clearly _what?_ Too poor? Too common?

Fuming, Rose marched off in the other direction, deciding that she'd see Al later, when she'd cooled down. She headed for the library, but abruptly turned around when she saw Scorpius, and headed for her dormitory, where she spent the rest of the day.

A week later, Rose had decided that enough was enough. At breakfast, she sat next to Scorpius, instead of with the other girls from her year. He smiled at her when she did, a genuine smile.

Rose didn't often take the time to reflect on it, but she knew that Scorpius wasn't close to anyone except her, and his sister. There were people he spent time with, but none that he was really close to.

She took a book from her satchel and showed it to him under the table. _The Visitor_, it was called, by the same person who'd written _Beauty_.

"Come with me after classes?" she asked. "Let's go read, like we used to."

"Yes," Scorpius said, smiling again, his fleeting, genuine, smile. "Anywhere in particular you wanted to go?"


	21. The Shadow

She took him to the room of requirement, a place her mother had told her about. Today, it had a roaring fire, two cosy armchairs, and a plate piled high with little cakes and biscuits.

They talked about _Beauty_, first, the book he'd given her. Looking at the publishing date, Rose knew that Snape must have bought the book shortly after her parents had started at Hogwarts. She wondered if he'd been thinking of Lily; it seemed more feminine than his usual tastes. She wondered if he'd thought himself akin to the lover who was believed long dead, and abandoned, but was found and reclaimed, almost too late.

She gave Scorpius _The Visitor_, a book about a future world where people had forgotten the present, and misunderstood the meanings of mundane items. Where people thought that muggles living today were magic, and that the simplest match stick was evidence of their great power. Rose found it frightening, how knowledge could be so easily lost between generations, and superstition grown in its place, and she thought Scorpius would be interested in that idea, too.

They settled down to read companionably, by the light of the fire, in peaceful silence, except when they wanted to discuss something in one of their books.

For the next three months, they were back to their old friendship. They were happy. The only shadow, as Rose saw it, was that of his parents.


	22. My Father

It came to a head that June, shortly before they left for the holidays. As Rose and Scorpius walked to the room of requirement together, they passed Alephocoma. The younger girl gave Rose a look of surprise, which made Rose grind her teeth. _Why _shouldn't_ I be friends with Scorpius?,_ she thought resentfully.

Even when they'd settled into their chairs, she was still fuming.

Scorpius pulled a letter from his robes. "This came this morning," he told her. "My father would-"

"Your father would what?" She snapped. "Would like the 'mudblood' to leave you alone?"

"...would like to invite you to join us for dinner at some point during the holidays. _What_ did you just say?"

She didn't reply.

"What did you just accuse my father of?" He repeated.

She rallied her fury. "Your father hates me, doesn't he? Me and my family? He thinks I'm not good enough for you, doesn't he? And your sister, too! Because my grandparents are muggles!"

Scorpius stared at her, stunned. The anger drained out of Rose, leaving only shame. She suddenly felt that she'd made a terrible mistake.

"You want to know what my father thinks of you?" Scorpius asked. His voice was quiet but intense, his eyes worse. She felt them burning into her, and couldn't look away.

Between then, a pensieve melted into place, as if it had always been there. Not taking his eyes from hers, Scorpius placed his wand to his forehead, and used it to draw a shimmering stream of memory into the basin.

"Look," he said, and it wasn't a request.


	23. Scorpius' Pensieve

She saw Scorpius and his father. Draco was seated at a desk, while Scorpius stood in front of it.

_He looks so young_, Rose thought, realising that Scorpius was only twelve here.

"Father -" Scorpius began. Draco waved a hand and cut him off.

"Scorpius, I won't say that I wasn't surprised. That was a very awkward position to be put into with no warning."

Scorpius thought for a moment, then said, "I understand, father. I apologise."

Scorpius sounded like an adult, in his apology. Rose knew that, at his age, both she and Hugo would have uttered either a sulky 'sorry!' or an overly affectionate one, eager to have the disagreement over with. They wouldn't have stood there and considered the situation.

Draco nodded. The two regarded one another as equals, and Rose noticed a small smile lighting up Draco's eyes.

"Why did you keep it from me, my boy?"

"Father, I -" Scorpius seemed lost for words. "I didn't think you'd approve."

Draco nodded again, this time, his eyes distant and lost in thought.

"I understand, my son." He said. "You and I both know that I had my problems with both of her parents. I made a great many mistakes then, ones that I know you will not repeat."

Scorpius shook his head, solemnly.

"I do not believe that I am able to fix the past, Scorpius, or to make amends. All I can do is ensure that you and your sister do not repeat it. And I must apologise for the situation I have put _you _in, for the effect my past has had on your present."

This time Scorpius nodded. Rose was fascinated by the way the father and son interacted. The elder Malfoy seemed to make a great effort to treat his son as an equal, and Rose did not doubt that Scorpius had been right – Draco did love him. Although physical interaction between the two was so cold as to be nonexistent, they understood one another.

Thinking back to Scorpius' desire to care for Alephocoma, Rose realised why it had meant so much to him. He'd wanted the responsibility so that he could show his parents that he was growing into an equal, that he was being raised into a good man.

She regretted how much of Scorpius she'd missed, by forgoing his invitations to observe him with his family. So much of him was clear, more things than she could ever have suspected, in this context, and she wished she'd known more of it.

"I should make it clear;" Draco continued. "I do not disapprove of your friendship with Miss Weasley."

Scorpius smiled then, in a small but noticeable way. Draco smiled back.

"After all," he said. "The Malfoys have retained their money and blood, but what have we lost? The wizarding world does not trust us. We have much reduced power, politically. Our respect is greatly lowered. My boy, if it suits you to build bridges with the Weasleys or Potters, rest assured that this will not have a negative effect on your family. Quite the opposite. Times have changed, and they now have the things we lack. Only a very stupid man would stay wedded to his past ideas when the context has changed so drastically, and, whatever else I may be, Scorpius, I do pride myself on not being more stupid than I can help."

Scorpius rolled his eyes then, his smile growing wider. "Father, you are a Slytherin till the end."

Draco grinned back. "Another thing I pride myself on, Scorpius. Now go play with your sister, I have work to do."


	24. Beyond Redemption

Rose stared at Scorpius, feeling her pulse thudding in her throat.

For years now, she'd been convinced that his father didn't approve of their friendship, that he'd called her horrible names, and looked down on her. It shook her to the core to learn that these thoughts were all in her head.

Her eyes met his, and he nodded. Then he broke their gaze, and started pacing.

"You didn't even give him a chance!" Scorpius raged. "You and your father – you were so damn sure that he was still the same person he was as a teenager! You didn't think he could grow, or change, or make a sensible decision! You focused on your own prejudice, and refused to see what was right in front of you!"

"Skip - "

"_Don't call me that!"_

Rose drew back as if she'd been slapped.

"And my sister! What has my sister ever done to you? She doesn't like you, but it's not because of your parents! It's because-"

And he paused for a breath, his fury leaving him, replaced by something older and more weary.

"...It's because she thinks you're no good for me. Because we talked about how you avoid me sometimes. How you don't want me to meet your family, and refuse to meet me. Because she thinks you can never forget that we're Malfoys, and I always told her that that wasn't true, but I guess-"

His voice cracked, and he paused, furious at himself for showing any kind of weakness.

"I guess she was right."

Rose gaped at him.

She didn't know how to make it right. He was right; she'd taken all those stories from twenty-five years ago, and turned his father into a demon. She would have hated it if someone had done that to her father, however well deserved. She knew from Scorpius' memory that Draco had been willing to build bridges between them, though he wasn't brave enough to take the first step; but she'd continued to cast him in the role of the villain, and hadn't given him a chance. She'd listened to stories, and jumped to conclusions, and hadn't taken the time to simply listen to her friend, and treat him _like a friend_.

Good guys weren't supposed to do things like that.

Scorpius started pacing again, working himself into anger, to keep himself away from tears.

"I bet you were congratulating yourself," Scorpius spat. "On being so kind to a Malfoy!" He put on a high-pitched voice. "Oh, poor Scorpius, his father's so evil! I must save him from the evil Malfoys! He's okay, he's not like a _real _Malfoy, he's _acceptable_!"

He glared at her.

"My father has never had a bad word to say about you. Are you going to hold his past mistakes against him – against _us_ – forever? Is that what you see, every time you look at me, the grandson of a Deatheater, the son of someone beyond redemption?

"People change, Rose. My father isn't the same person he was a quarter of a century ago, and I'm not him, and he isn't my grandfather."

He glared at her. For the first time in her life, Rose was lost for words. Her world had shrunk to those two ice-blue eyes, the eyes of her best friend, now brimming over with anger, which, she knew, was only to disguise the hurt.

After a few seconds, which seemed to stretch on forever, he broke their gaze again, and stormed out.

It was all hitting her at once. She knew that his friendship with her was the only really close friendship he had. She looked back over all the conversations they'd had, as she knew he must be doing. All those times she'd said "our families won't approve", and she'd meant his father, and he must have thought she meant hers. How long had he spent thinking her parents didn't like him, that she'd been avoiding their meeting for that reason?

He'd never have told her how much that had hurt. And how much worse, now, to know that she'd thought so little of his father, of his family? His family, who meant everything to him, like hers did.

Rose let herself fall backwards, onto a sofa which had appeared. She needed to process this. She needed to _think._


	25. Redemption

She came to find him, the day before they were due to leave. He was sitting in their usual place, outside, alone. He wasn't reading, for once, just thinking, and he didn't seem surprised to see her there. She took a deep breath and sat down next to him.

"I'm sorry Scorpius. You were right."

She didn't give him time to interrupt.

"You know what happened between Lily and Snape? How the final straw between them was that name he used for her? Well, we don't have a similar word for Purebloods, not with all the negative connotations and history, but, if we did, then it would have meant all the presumptions I used on you, and your family. "

He shrugged.

"I want to get to know you again, Scorpius, properly. I want to make things right with Aphelocoma. And I would like to meet your father, and make my mind up based on him as he is now, not based on _his_ father, and his past." She took a deep breath. "If, that is, you're okay with that."

Scorpius didn't reply. Instead, he put an arm around her, and squeezed, briefly.

"Is this your way of admitting to being in love with me, Rose?"

She was shocked, that he was taking it so lightly. That he could be so forgiving. Shocked, but glad, too. They'd gotten a second chance, and, this time, they would get it right.

She knew, then, that they would be okay. They knew enough to be honest with each other now, to communicate properly. They wouldn't let a stupid teenage mistake ruin the best friendship either of them had ever had. She would treat him like a _friend_.

"Eeeeeewwwwwww!" She said, gently pushing him away, though not so far that they lost contact. "A Weasley and a Malfoy? Can you think of anything worse?"

"You love my Malfoyness."

"Nuh-uh." She'd never seen him act like this before, but she liked it.

He pulled her close again. "Yuh-huh."

She was suddenly very, very aware that the shy boy she'd met at eleven was now almost sixteen, over six foot tall, and very close. Her hands rested on his chest, where she'd pushed him, and she was acutely aware of the muscle beneath them. She could feel his hands on her, electrifying her, one on her shoulder, the other on her waist. She remembered kissing him at fourteen, and wondered if it would be the same now. No, something inside told her, it would be better. Because, this time, they weren't 'too young'.

"Let's go to London," she said, her voice suddenly soft. "Next weekend."

"Deal," he replied.


	26. Living in the Past

Later, he told her that he'd decided the fault didn't entirely lay with her. He could have asked. He could have addressed the issue. He could have reached out to keep them together, and he hadn't. He was determined not to make that mistake again. He'd decided to be more open, more forthcoming, less guarded. To trust her, rather than let paranoia come between them again, from either side.

She wasn't convinced that his blame was equal to hers, but knew that the important thing was moving on, not living in the past. They'd done far too much of that.


	27. London

They'd gone to London in the first week of the holidays, after meeting his father for lunch. Aphelocoma had been there too, and Rose had been determined to see the younger girl's reticence as concern for her brother, and not hatred for a Weasley. She'd managed to earn a smile, by the end of the meal, and felt disproportionately proud.

At King's Cross station, they'd found a photobooth. Rose had explained how they'd worked, and Scorpius had insisted on trying it out, fascinated by the idea of seeing himself in a photo that didn't move.

She'd sat on his lap and he'd tickled her, something she couldn't have imagined the younger Scorpius relaxing enough to do. It was a change for the better. The last photo caught them kissing again.

They'd headed to Waterstones then, her favourite muggle book chain. The first book she bought him was under romance, rather than sci-fi, and it was one that she'd read before, and loved.

_Do You Remember the First Time?_

It was about second chances, and about getting things right this time.

END

_A/N Thank you for reading. I hoped you enjoyed my story.:)_

_I would very much appreciate it if you were to take time from your day to review._


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